Managed Face to Face Fundraising Service

AI-generated analysis of the documents. Check the official notice and any amendments for current submission details.

1. At a glance

2. Scope of Work

This tender seeks a managed face-to-face (F2F) fundraising service to recruit regular monthly donors for Our Lady's Hospice and Care Services (OLH&CS). The contract duration is one year, with a potential one-year extension. The estimated maximum spend is €145,000 excluding VAT, with no guaranteed expenditure. The service will operate primarily within the Dublin area, requiring the physical presence of fundraising personnel.

The contractor will be responsible for the end-to-end process of designing, implementing, managing, and optimising a door-to-door fundraising campaign. Key activities include:

• Campaign Design and Planning: Developing campaign strategy, planning scaling and phasing of activities.
• Recruitment and Deployment of Fundraisers:
• Recruiting "ambassadors" (fundraisers) with clear employment terms and adherence to legislation.
• Deploying trained teams across the greater Dublin area.
• Implementing flexible staffing models and team structures.
• Adhering to the Charities Institute of Ireland’s F2F calendar.
• Operating within Dublin South, East, West, and County Wicklow (excluding West Wicklow).
• Campaign Delivery: Managing day-to-day operations, field management structures, and processes for consistent performance and compliance.
• Donor Acquisition:
• Engaging with the public professionally and ethically.
• Implementing a clear sign-up process and data capture methods.
• Ensuring accuracy, transparency, and compliance.
• Providing strategic advice to OLH&CS's Fundraising Department.
• Performance Monitoring and Reporting:
• Benchmarking against agreed targets, including recruiting 550 regular donors with an average gift of €16 per donor.
• Reporting on numbers recruited, data quality, donor cancellations, supporter engagement, and public feedback.
• Retention and Attrition Management:
• Minimising early donor attrition.
• Improving donor quality.
• Using data to inform improvements.
• Defining clawback timeframes.
• Account Management and Support:
• Establishing an account management structure.
• Defining communication protocols with OLH&CS.
• Implementing issue resolution and escalation processes.
• Mobilisation and Implementation:
• Providing a proposed mobilisation timeline.
• Demonstrating readiness to commence delivery.
• Detailing resource allocation.
• Outlining any subcontractor management plans.

The target audience for recruitment includes people in communities served by OLH&CS, existing supporters, and those unaware of the organisation but willing to support it. Fundraisers will engage with individuals aged 25 and over. A "Recruited Donor" is defined by completing a donation mandate, providing consent, passing validation, and being accepted by OLH&CS's processing systems.

3. Background & buyer context

Our Lady's Hospice and Care Services (OLH&CS), established in 1879, is a 200-bed facility providing specialist care, including rehabilitation and end-of-life services. It operates across Harold's Cross and Blackrock Hospices, as well as providing homecare in south Dublin and north Wicklow. OLH&CS serves a catchment area of nearly one million people and opened a third site in Wicklow in 2020. The organisation employs over 600 staff and 330 volunteers.

Fundraising is critical for maintaining existing services, with an annual requirement to raise over €5.5 million. The organisation has had a donor programme since 2010, with monthly donations currently accounting for approximately 3% of total fundraising. New monthly donors are acquired through direct mail, online channels, and phone canvassing. This tender aims to significantly increase monthly donations by introducing a dedicated face-to-face (F2F) fundraising programme. The procurement is conducted under an Open procedure.

4. Eligibility & selection criteria

Bidders must meet the following minimum requirements to be considered for this tender. These are assessed on a pass/fail basis.

• Turnover requirement: Confirmation that the tendering party's average annual turnover exceeded €200,000 in one of the last three financial years. Firms must have been in existence for at least 6 months.
• Insurance:
• Employer's Liability: €13 million
• Public Liability: €6.5 million
• Certifications: Not specified for this tender, but tenderers must demonstrate a commitment to quality assurance and provide details of quality assurance policies and systems, noting whether externally certified. They must also demonstrate operation of Health & Safety systems and procedures in line with relevant legislation.
• Past experience: Tenderers must demonstrate successful delivery of three (3) previous comparable projects. Details should include donor recruitment numbers, number of fundraisers engaged, and value of donor contributions achieved.
• Personnel: A dedicated contract manager must be nominated, with their CV and details of the proposed delivery team to be provided.
• Geographic / facility constraints: Services must be delivered within Ireland, with fundraising personnel operating in the greater Dublin area. Recruitment areas are Dublin South, East, West, and County Wicklow (excluding West Wicklow).

Tenderers may rely on the resources of other entities to meet these requirements, provided they can prove these resources will be at their disposal.

5. Award criteria & scoring

The contract will be awarded based on the Most Economically Advantageous Tender (MEAT), considering price and quality.

Tenderers must achieve a minimum of 50% marks in criteria B, C, D, and E to remain in consideration. The cost score is calculated based on the lowest cost tender receiving maximum points, with others scored proportionally. Qualitative criteria are scored on a percentage scale from 50% (Acceptable) to 100% (Exceptional).

6. Submission requirements

Tenderers must submit their responses electronically via the eTenders postbox facility. The submission must be a Zip file. Specific documents required include:

• Tender Response Document (TRD): This document, provided separately, must be used for the response. It includes sections for general information, financial standing declarations, tax compliance, insurance confirmation, and declarations of bona fides and statutory obligations.
• Pricing Schedule (Appendix 1): This document, also provided separately, must be completed with detailed, transparent, and complete pricing information, including assumptions, donor validation conditions, and clawback arrangements. Pricing must be in Euro (€) and exclusive of VAT. It requires pricing based on Cost per Recruited Donor and any fixed or mobilisation costs.
• CVs: CVs for the nominated contract manager and proposed delivery team members are required.
• Case studies: Not explicitly mentioned as a separate submission item, but previous comparable experience must be detailed.
• Declarations:
• European Single Procurement Document (ESPD) is accepted as evidence of compliance with selection criteria.
• Declaration of Bona Fides (as per Art. 57 of Directive 2014/24/EU).
• Declaration regarding compliance with relevant statutory obligations.
• Declaration regarding EU regulation 2022/576 on restrictive measures.
• Mandatory site visit: Not specified.
• Submission portal: eTenders postbox facility on www.etenders.gov.ie.

7. Key dates & process

The contract is for one year, with a potential extension of one year. The tender validity period is 6 months from the submission deadline.

8. Contract terms that matter

• Term: The contract is for one (1) year. The Contracting Authority reserves the right to extend the contract for a further one (1) year, subject to satisfactory performance, budget, and business needs.
• Payment terms: Not explicitly detailed, but pricing is based on Cost per Recruited Donor and fixed/mobilisation costs. Invoices are deemed accepted after 14 days.
• Key SLAs/KPIs:
• Recruit 550 regular donors during the contract term.
• Achieve an average gift of €16 per donor.
• Ensure high-quality donor acquisition and strong donor retention rates.
• Maintain high standards of compliance and ethical fundraising.
• Minimise early donor attrition and cancellations in the first two months.
• Liquidated damages or penalty regimes: Not specified.
• Termination clauses: Either party may terminate with 1 month's written notice if the contract continues for 30 calendar days without satisfactory resolution of issues. Termination without liability for compensation or damages is possible with 1 month's written notice.
• IP ownership: Not specified.
• Sub-contracting rules: Tenderers must outline any proposed use of subcontractors and how they will be managed.
• Parent-company guarantee or bond requirements: Not specified.

9. Risks, red flags & unusuals

• Estimated value vs. contract length: The estimated value of €145,000 for a one-year contract, with a potential second year, suggests a relatively small-scale operation. This might limit the pool of larger, more established fundraising agencies.
• Performance-based pricing: The emphasis on "Cost per Recruited Donor" and detailed clawback arrangements for donor cancellations indicates a significant performance-risk transfer to the contractor. This requires careful pricing and robust donor validation processes.
• Tight mobilisation timeline: The period from contract award (late August 2026) to "Go Live" (mid-January 2027) is approximately 4.5 months, including IT onboarding, design, development, and testing. This is a compressed timeline for a new F2F programme.
• Limited geographic scope: The focus on the Dublin area and specific surrounding counties restricts the operational footprint.
• No guaranteed expenditure: The statement that the €145,000 is indicative and there is "no guaranteed expenditure" means the contractor bears the risk of lower-than-expected donor recruitment impacting their revenue.

10. SME fit assessment

This tender is structured to be accessible to Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) with specialised fundraising experience.

• Who can credibly bid: A small to medium-sized agency with a proven track record in face-to-face donor recruitment, particularly for charities. They must demonstrate experience in managing small teams, campaign design, and ethical fundraising practices. The turnover requirement of €200,000 is achievable for many SMEs.
• Consortium or sub-contracting: SMEs are encouraged to form relationships with other SMEs or larger enterprises to meet capacity requirements. Sub-contracting is permitted, provided it is managed effectively.
• Indicative bid-prep effort: Preparing a compliant bid will require significant effort, likely in the range of 10-20 days for a small team. This includes developing the technical solution, mobilisation plan, contract management approach, and detailed pricing, as well as gathering supporting documentation for selection criteria.
• Pwin signal: The tender is open to new entrants, as indicated by the Open procedure. There is no explicit mention of an incumbent. The performance-based pricing and no guaranteed spend suggest the buyer is seeking value and efficiency, which SMEs can often deliver. The primary challenge for SMEs will be demonstrating the required €13m Employer's Liability and €6.5m Public Liability insurance, which may necessitate partnerships or careful sourcing.

11. Where to dig deeper

• Source RFT filename: OLH - Provision of Door to Door Fundraising Services RFT Final.pdf
• eTenders CFT ID: Not specified in the provided text.
• Contact email or clarification portal: Information will be published on www.etenders.gov.ie. Specific contact details for clarifications are not provided in this extract.
• Most important attachments:
• Tender Response Document (TRD)
• Pricing Schedule Appendix 1
• Contracting Authority's Terms and Conditions (appended at relevant Appendix)